


The Two O'Clock Meeting

by WanderlustandFreedom



Series: Descendants Short Stories and One Shots [8]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Art, Children, F/M, Future, Isle of the Lost (Disney), Kings & Queens, Marriage, Meeting, Original Character(s), Painting, Romance, Teenagers, Time Travel, United States of Auradon (Disney), kingdom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 08:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19103848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderlustandFreedom/pseuds/WanderlustandFreedom
Summary: In which Ben is given an opportunity to meet with the future king at the end of his reign, and Mal and her friends are given the opportunity to meet the future queen in the middle of her reign.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short two-part story I've been dwelling on. I have plans for a third part that would be disconnected from the first two, so if you're interested, let me know.
> 
> I do not own Descendants.

Read Her Royal Highness for a longer fanfic. It features Mal breaking the barrier over the Isle, her being in Auradon all alone, and four separate kingdoms.

It had been a long day. He'd woken up early and gone in to take the test he'd missed yesterday, so he could attend his father's meeting. Then, he'd taken the test he would be missing this afternoon, for Swords and Shields. It'd been harder than he'd anticipated – he'd probably have to take it again – and have missed breakfast. He'd fallen asleep in Chemistry, brought the wrong book to Math, and had almost fainted during weights because he hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day long. English hadn't been so bad, except that Lonnie hadn't completely finished her part of their group project and Chad's part was done in handwriting that looked suspiciously like Ruby's. And then Annie, Anna's daughter, who had somehow wound up with Elsa's magic despite not being descended from Elsa, had sneezed beside him and froze his hand to the table. The Swords and Shields meet had turned out terrible, both of his parents were gone with court stuff, Audrey had to cancel her plans to come to hang out with him for something her parents needed her for, and so he'd eaten dinner at nine, all alone, and was now heading to bed, finally.

Ben put his shoes on the grate beside the door and hung up his jacket. He put all his clothes in the laundry chute, knowing they'd be back the next day, and found his pajamas by his bed with a sigh. He plugged his phone in in the other room – he wasn't allowed to have it at night – and the screen sensed the time, sensed the power source, and locked him out. It would unlock at five thirty the next morning when he'd have to get up to go to the school for an early morning tourney practice. Hopefully, he'd have time to finish homework during his first period.

Ben flipped off the lights and collapsed onto his bed face-down. The pillows let out a whoosh of air as his face sank deeper into them. He could already feel his eyes closing as the sweet embrace of sleep came up to capture him.

He turned onto his side, blinked twice, and noticed a light coming out from under the doorway. Ben groaned pitifully, swung his feet back over the side of the bed, and walked to the door. He twisted the knob. It whirred a little as he opened it – just like his dad's office door, and he opened it into the other room.

Light blinded him, and all of the sleepiness vanished from his mind. He stared in shock at the other side of the door. It had changed in the few seconds it's taken him to walk back to the door. The ceilings were higher, with wood paneling and brick overlays. A large dark brown desk sat in front of a window that was looking out on the palace grounds, and there were large boxes sitting around the room, filled to the brim with items. It looked… exactly like his dad's office, only unpacked and a little updated.

Ben turned back around and examined his room, sheathed in darkness. To his surprise, his frame was still visible, lying on top of the sheets with his head tilted to the side at an angle he knew he'd regret when he got up the next day. He turned back to the light, shut the door, and watched in shock as it vanished. The real door was to his right, up against the wall and on the north side. He moved to put his hands into his pockets by force of habit and discovered he was wearing tan pants with a watch on his wrist. A blue shirt was tucked into a belt with a simple Auradon crest buckle completing the look. His hair was combed. He looked like he was accompanying his parents somewhere.

The boxes around the room were labeled with a sturdy, yet curly scrawl. Probably a woman's handwriting. One read: "Tax Records Year 20-48. Take to Records." Ben examined the box tactfully. Auradon measured years based on when the country had been formed. It was the year 18. He'd be taking the throne in two years, when he was sixteen, during year twenty. Twenty, as in the number inscribed on the box. Ben swallowed.

"Are you my two o'clock meeting?" A voice came from the doorway. Ben jumped and spun around. He hadn't heard if the door had opened or not, but he could suddenly see out into the hallway. In the doorway stood a tall, handsome man who looked like he was in his forties, though he had evidently aged well. He still had his hair, though laugh wrinkles had pressed themselves around his mouth and eyes. He held a perfect posture, an upright stance, and a kind smile stretched across a familiar face.

"Two o'clock?" Ben stuttered, watching in awe as the man stepped further into the room, examining him with kind eyes.

"Ah, yes. That'd be you." The man nodded, shutting the door and then walking past him. "Sorry for the mess; we're almost all cleaned out. You know, you're my very last official meeting as King?" He smiled at Ben, and then pulled a chair from the side of the room and placed it in front of the desk. He walked around the desk, sat down in his own chair, a black leather chair on wheels, and gestured to the seat. "Do you know who I am?" The man asked.

Ben took the back of the chair in his hands and sat down with a swallow. "You-you're me, aren't you?" He asked.

The older man's smile grew brighter. "I am." He nodded, folding his hands together on top of his desk. "It doesn't quite seem like it, huh? And you're here to appraise me, correct?"

"I – I'm here to – what?" Ben stammered. He was too busy examining his older version's face. How he had even eyebrows and clear skin and thick hair. Wow, he'd never have thought he'd one day look so good. He touched the acne on his forehead and wrinkled his nose in jealousy. His older version laughed.

"Yes, I know. It'll go away soon though. I swear it's not just something mum says to make you feel better." He laughed, leaning forward. "But come on, now, Ben. Think for just a second. What's another word for Appraisal?"

"An interview," Ben replied immediately. It was one of the things his dad had drilled into his head. "It's an interview where everyone tries to find out if you've done anything wrong." He mirrored his counterpart, folding his hands together in his lap and twiddling his fingers nonchalantly.

"That's right." King Ben nodded. His smile remained bright and proud. "Now, Ben," He began, "Can you guess how old I am now?"

Ben swallowed and glanced back to the box he'd been looking at earlier. "Well, you – I – was born in year four, so… aren't you forty-four or forty-three?"

"Forty-four." King Ben nodded in assurance. "I'm thirty years older than you right now."

A chill ran down Ben's spine as he looked around at everything and took a long, slow breath. "Wow." He whispered. "That's a long time."

"It flies by." King Ben agreed. "It still does for me. I go to bed every night and I wonder where the hours went. They're flying faster now that I'm leaving office."

"You said I'm your last meeting?" Ben asked, attention snapping back to his counterpart. "Then… you must be passing the throne on?"

"On Monday." King Ben affirmed. "This is my last meeting, and then my family will help me take everything out, and tomorrow is Sunday, so nothing will happen and we'll spend the day together. Then on Monday, a new ruler will take the throne."

"But if you're passing the throne on, then that means-" Ben's mouth ran a bit dry. "Do you – do I – have children?"

"I have children; you will have children." King Ben confirmed with a brighter, proud smile. "That's how a monarchy works, Ben."

"Of course." Ben stuttered with eyes large as he dug his fingernails into the edge of the chair. "And they'll be sixteen, so they were born-"

"I was twenty-eight." King Ben cut him off. "My wife and I… she wanted to put it off. We were married for almost seven years before our first baby was born."

"Seven years." Ben echoed, sliding down into his chair a little.

"I was twenty-one when I married her." King Ben smiled. "Do you want to know her name?"

"Can I?" Ben asked. "I mean, am I allowed to? What if I wake up and then I know-"

"Then you wake up and you know who she is." King Ben shrugged. "And you keep your mouth shut and you hang back to give her some time and space and you tell her when you're about, oh," He glanced to the side coyly as if he were pretending to brainstorm a date. "When you're marrying her in three days and she asks how you're sure she's the right person."

Ben's mouth fell open. "You already did this?" He asked.

King Ben nodded. "It's been a very long time since I sat in that chair." He hummed. "Kind of strange to see you here; not going to lie." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Go on, then, see if you can guess who she is."

"Audrey," Ben asked immediately. His hands were tightening into fists as his heart rate increased.

King Ben shook his head and closed his eyes as if he were reminiscing about something. "Audrey and you break up when you go after the girl you'll make your queen. She gets married to Chad, and that unites all three of those kingdoms, and they had a son together who became the King of their states a few years ago."

Ben's mouth dropped open. "What about Lonnie?" He asked. "Lonnie and I have gone out. Is it Lonnie?"

King Ben straightened up very carefully and pursed his lips a little. "It's not Lonnie." He shook his head. "Lonnie married someone from… a different land. His name was Jay. They moved up to Northern Wei and had twin girls together. They don't take a throne up there until they reach twenty, though, and they're only twelve."

Ben swallowed. "Is it Jane?" He asked. He could see himself going for Jane. Jane was quiet and kind, if a little vain and reserved. However, he was shocked to see a deep frown cross his counterpart's face.

"Jane marries a boy named Carlos." He told Ben. "Who also comes from a different land. The same one as Jay, actually. And we're friends, but she said something that hurt my wife very badly in her youth, and so I've never even held a one-on-one conversation with her since we left Auradon Prep." He leaned forward and looked at young Ben. "Do you want me to tell you now?" He asked.

Ben pulled his chair closer to the desk and nodded eagerly. "Yes." He whispered.

A ghostly smile crossed King Ben's face. He threaded his fingers together. "Her name is Mal," He confided, whispering the name like it was a secret or a treasure.

Ben wrinkled his nose. "Mal." He repeated, testing the name on his tongue. It seemed to stick. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what she might be like, but nothing came to mind. "I don't know her." He told King Ben, who shook his head.

"She comes from that different land I was telling you about." King Ben hummed.

"Where?" Ben asked, putting his hands on the desk in anticipation.

King Ben stood up and went to look to the south, out the window behind his desk. Ben stood up and looked over the desk. In the distance, he could see a hazy green barrier flicking into and out of his gaze. His mouth went dry. "The Isle of the Lost?" He asked.

King Ben turned back around. "Tell me, Ben, what do you think 'Mal' is short for?" He sat down on a corner of his desk and hooked his hands around his knees as he waited for an answer.

Ben's mind raced with fifty thoughts. Mal, as a prefix, meant Bad. Evil. Rotten. He skimmed his list of memorized villains and suddenly stopped on the large, overbearing, obvious one. "Maleficent?" He asked.

"Is that a problem?" King Ben asked, arching an eyebrow.

"No," Ben decided, though he sat down in surprise. "Not if she's the one. It doesn't matter who her mom is. And, well, the kingdom is obviously fine, so…" He shrugged.

"She's the one." King Ben affirmed. "It's true love." He sat back down in his chair and smiled. "We've been married almost twenty-five years, and every day is better than the last."

"And now you won't be King anymore?" Ben asked, sitting down as well. "It'll be your… son?"

"I won't be." King Ben agreed. "And our daughter, actually. Her name is Colette." He got up and walked to a box that read: "Knick-knacks". From this, he withdrew a framed photograph and held it out to Ben. Ben took it with shaking hands. It was a photo of a girl looking over her shoulder a little bit. Long, long purple hair was swept over her shoulder as she smiled at the camera with perfect, white, straight teeth. Her eyes were brown, just like his. He felt all the breath leave his lungs.

"Colette." He repeated, tracing a finger down the side of her face. "She's… beautiful."

"Just wait until I show you a picture of Mal." King Ben chuckled, shuffling a little in his box. He pulled out a second photo and handed it to Ben. "Those are all the kids," He told him, before hefting a larger picture out of the box and setting it beside the desk. Ben examined the second photo. Four children in various degrees of attentiveness were captured behind the glass. The oldest, Colette, was leaning into a couch with her sister, who also had dark, lush, purple hair, leaning into her side. Two boys were wrestling a pillow between them while they faked that they were looking at the photographer. One had the same purple hair and was older, and the other was the only child with tan, sandy hair. Ben examined them all. They looked like they all had his skin color, except for one of the girls. And two of them had brown eyes, and two had green. That meant he was heterozygous dominant for brown, he realized with a smirk. All those boring science classes must have pounded something into him after all.

"Why did we let them all dye their hair?" He asked King Ben, who had gone back to sitting on a corner of his desk as he watched young Ben evaluate his future family.

"We didn't." King Ben responded with a laugh. "It grows in like that. They all have naturally purple hair. My wife was devastated."

"But they look so good!" Ben frowned. "They're the most beautiful kids in all of Auradon!"

"You should see Evie's." King Ben smiled. "They're pretty cute too. I prefer my own, of course, but anyone with Evie's genes is bound to be gorgeous." He rubbed his hands together and stood up to wander the room. "Mal was upset because it makes them easy to spot. Also, she says she likes my hair, but whatever. I honestly think that as the generations go by, the purple hair will just come to be a mark of royalty. Our youngest son Damien is the only person to escape the purple hair gene, and now he's devastated because he doesn't match."

Ben snorted and put a finger on the blonde-haired boy in the photo. "Damien." He repeated.

"And Jordan is our older son." King Ben filled him in. "He's just a little younger than you are now. And the last girl is Annalee. She's a real cuddler. You don't appreciate that now, but when you get off after a meeting and she wants to cuddle beside you, you'll understand." He folded his arms in pride as he watched Ben take it all in.

"Mal's hair must be purple then, and she must have green eyes," Ben mumbled. His cheeks grew a little warm. Could it be possible he'd made these people with someone?

"On the money." King Ben replied.

Ben rubbed the glass to get some imaginary dust off of it. "How old are they all now? Except for Colette. I already know she's sixteen."

"Jordan is thirteen." King Ben began. "And then the twins are only six. That means I still have a few years." He brushed his hair out of his face. "Mal and I sort of want to try for a fifth kid now that we're losing Colette, but we don't know. She might be too old now."

Ben glanced down to the frame that King Ben had set beside his feet and gasped in shock. A beautiful hand-painted portrait of what he assumed was a goddess with dark, curly, perfectly purple hair was leaned against the desk. He put the photo down and picked it up. The woman in the painting was, without a doubt, gorgeous. Her lashes were long, her lips held an even pink color, and her eyes were the same bright, vibrant green he'd seen on his future children. "Mal," He whispered, the name rolling off his tongue and sticking immediately to the person whose portrait he held in his hands.

"Isn't she lovely?" King Ben asked in pride. "I had that commissioned for our tenth anniversary. She'd had Colette three years before and was actually pregnant with Jordan then." He leaned down a little to see the portrait. "It's a shame I couldn't have her paint it herself, but it still turned out beautiful despite that."

"She paints?" Ben asked. He could scarcely rip his eyes away from the lady on the canvas to look up at his counterpart. King Ben nodded with a smile and pulled a booklet out of the box he'd been foraging through. He took the painting out of Ben's hands and replaced it with the booklet, though Ben was sad to see it go. He cracked the booklet open and discovered a watercolor drawing of a baby sitting in the sunlight, surrounded by toys. Beside it was a detailed pencil sketch of a little girl with braided hair. The inscription 'Colette' was underneath it.

Ben flipped through the booklet slowly, examining everything inside of it. He noticed that while the children's full names were almost always used, Colette tended to be shortened to 'Co-co'. "Can I see more?" He asked, closing the book carefully and then leaned back over the portrait of the girl who'd done them, Mal.

King Ben laughed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was the same type Ben used, but obviously years ahead of him. King Ben found what he wanted on the screen and carefully pressed the screen into his palm. Ben stared at the screen. On it was himself, older, with his arm around the girl, Mal, and they were taking their photo in front of a crowd at a gala or some other function. The queen's crown was on her head and the King's crown on his, though his was at an angle. He swiped left and found a picture of Jordan, the oldest boy, with whipped cream on his cheek as he smiled at the camera. Another swipe left revealed a picture of Mal, though her figure was misshapen around her middle and she was rolling her eyes exasperatedly at the camera while keeping a little hand to her torso. Ben's mouth went dry. He studied the image, every pixel, until King Ben elbowed him with another laugh. "You did that." He reminded Ben. The fourteen-year-old turned beet red and hunched his shoulders before he quickly moved on, prompting more laughs from his older counterpart.

"I still have a question." Ben sighed, handing King Ben's phone back to him after a while. "Well, a couple, really. But the big one is… how did I meet Mal?"

"You mean how did you navigate around the barrier?" King Ben laughed, taking a seat back in his chair. Ben picked up the portrait again and then set the photo of the kids in front of it so he could look back and forth between the two and nodded to King Ben's words. "It wasn't easy." The forty-four-year-old sighed. "Your parents weren't the happiest at the beginning of that adventure, though they did get used to it."

"Oh, Mom and Dad!" Ben blurted out, interrupting his older self. "Are they still alive? What happens to them?"

"They're still alive." King Ben laughed. "And well, too. They' be around for many more years. But, as I was saying, they're not going to be one-hundred percent on-board with your plan. You're going to have to hold your ground a little. Eventually, they'll come back around and say you were right."

"But how?" Ben asked. "What am I supposed to hold my ground on?"

King Ben stared at him with a blank expression. Ben felt the gears in his head begin to turn. "You said that Jay and Carlos came from a different land. And you also mentioned Evie. She must be the daughter of the Evil Queen. They must all come from the Isle of the Lost. You – I – let children from the Isle of the Lost come over."

"You pick the first ones, and then your 'core four' pick everyone else." King Ben affirmed. "And you meet Mal when she comes over. You'll know her face the moment she appears. You get to step forward and shake her hand. She won't be too hot on you at first but give it time. She likes sarcastic jokes and strawberries. Within a month of meeting, you'll be dating."

"What's she like?" Ben asked, tracing the tip of his finger over Mal's purple locks in the portrait on his lap.

"Amazing." King Ben exhaled. "She'll become the most important person in your life. She's strong, she's kind. She likes tight hugs and soft kisses, and she goes crazy when you wear purple. She's talented and artistic, and funny, and hard-working. She's going to be devoted to you as a girlfriend, as a fiancée, and as a wife. And while you'll both have your doubts; we turn out to be pretty awesome parents together too."

"She sounds incredible." Ben exhaled, sounding exactly like his older self. "God, where can I sign up?" He let his eyes flit off the portrait for a few seconds as a deep red color tinged his cheeks. "What's it like to kiss her?" He asked softly. His voice chose that moment to crack, and he winced, hoping that the future Ben wouldn't laugh.

King Ben's eyes sparkled. "Why are you so embarrassed?" He laughed. "You've thought about kissing girls before – I know you have."

Ben shrugged as his blush deepened. "I just didn't know if it was something you wanted me to ask." He mumbled.

King Ben nodded, leaning further back into his cheek. "It's like the heavens opened wide." He shook his head. "I swear, every kiss, I could die." Then, King Ben glanced at the younger version of himself with a smile. "But you do realize I have four children, right? I've done far more than  _just_ kiss Mal."

Ben's face turned a deeper shade of red. He set the pictures aside as King Ben laughed at his burning cheeks. "When you do start kissing her, just know she'll care a little bit more about length then about quality. About the time you have Colette is when she'll start to care about how well you can kiss her, not just how long."

"Got it." Ben nodded.

"And I know you won't value this tip now but hear me out." King Ben laughed and winked a little at him. "When you want her to go crazy on you, wear something purple. Just the sight of her color on you is usually enough to set her off."

Ben made a disgruntled, uncomfortable sound and covered his face with his hands as red seared his cheeks again. King Ben couldn't hold back his loud laughter as Ben tried to compose himself. He pulled one knee up onto his leg and examined the young man. "You'll be a fine king." He told him. "You'll do just swell. And with Mal by your side, really, there's no way for you to mess up. You'll be a fine king, a wonderful father, and, according to Mal, a fantastic husband."

"Do I pass science?" Ben blurted out and then realized that was probably a stupid question to ask a man who hadn't attended his school or taken his classes in thirty years.

King Ben pulled a card out of his pocket. "I knew you were going to ask, so I went and looked it up." He told Ben and cleared his throat. "You squeak past with a B-. Just make sure and retake that genetics and Mendelian test, and you'll be fine. It should be a lot easier now that you have some real-life applications." He spread his arms across the pictures on his desk. Ben nodded in agreement. There wasn't a doubt in his head that this was for real.

"I can't believe these are  _my_  kids." Ben gasped a little. "I mean, I can see my eyes and my hair on Damien, and Colette has my skin – This is incredible! I wish this was my life right now."

"It will be, one day." King Ben smiled. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"So many." Ben gasped. "But… I guess most of them will be answered soon enough." He hesitated. "Did Dad ever figure out what to do to help Arendelle and Weselton sort things out?"

"I have no clue." King Ben shook his head. "Probably not since they still fight today."

Ben wrinkled his nose. That meant he'd have to deal with it. "Do I get to meet Maleficent?" He asked. King Ben shook his head with a quiet smile, and Ben sighed. "Do you have any advice on how to be a good husband?" He asked.

King Ben's eyebrows shot up. "That's a very mature question." He hummed and shrugged. "I forgot to mention this, but Mal is magical. And every once in a while she likes to experiment with her powers. Don't get down on her. Let her have that little freedom and everything will be fine."

"Okay." Ben nodded with a dry mouth. "What do you think I should be the most excited for?"

King Ben straightened up and fixed the cuffs on his sleeves. "That's another mature question." He hummed. "I don't know. I haven't finished living yet. I can give you a small list." At his words, Ben straightened up and took a deep breath. King Ben began to count on his fingers. "You meet and marry an amazing girl who you remain madly in love with years later, You change the lives of hundreds of kids by introducing them to the ways of good, you're renowned for being a doting father while also keeping up on every single one of your responsibilities, and you end up making some pretty amazing kids with your fabulously sexy wife, so I'd say you've got loads to look forward to." King Ben put his fingertips together and smiled at Ben. "Especially on that last point." He told him.

"I can't wait," Ben replied honestly, staring down at the pictures across the desk.

The door across the room opened and Ben whipped around to see who'd walked in. A little girl with a full head of purple hair snuck around the corner and then dashed towards the desk. King Ben held out his hands and scooped her up as she reached him. He tickled her sides and made funny growling sounds like he was pretending to eat her while she shrieked and pulled on his shirt a little. She had pale skin, very different from Ben's, but dark brown eyes.

"Daddy it's you!" Annalee pointed across the desk at Ben.

King Ben set her up on his knee and nodded. "It is." He affirmed. "Annalee, can you say hi to Ben?" Annalee waved shyly at him from her Dad's arms and then curled her face into his chest, balling her little fists up in his shirt. A cuddler, just like King Ben had said. He examined everything about her, from how short she was, to how her nails were painted a peeling pink, to her he could even see a bit of his mom's face in hers. And she'd called King Ben 'Daddy'. That joyful sound rang in his ears over and over. That'd be him one day. It'd be him.

King Ben looked up towards the door and his smile, which had remained permanently etched onto his face since Ben had first seen him enter the office grew wider and softer all at the same time. His eyes sparkled as he focused on a point just over Ben's shoulder and he leaned up a little to greet the person behind them all. Ben's heart thudded in his chest as he turned around slowly.

There was a swish of purple hair and the smell of acrylic paint. A lady with the same dark purple hair that, true to King Ben's words, was like a royal trademark, stepped into the room. She was wearing black paint-splattered jeans and a purple and green shirt, and a purple and green jacket with metallic studs was slung over her shoulder. She set a hand on Ben's shoulder as she walked by and leaned down to kiss his cheek. Her touch was soft, and her skin was like silk. Ben felt every hair rise up on end as he watched her pass with wide eyes. Queen Mal crossed behind the desk and leaned down to share a kiss – a proper one – with her husband. Ben felt a little like he was watching his parents kiss as he watched Mal withdraw with a smile and a glance down to their little girl, even though it was only himself many years older.

"Watch out, she'll go to sleep." Queen Mal warned King Ben with a laugh. "She just trashed my art studio, so I brought her down here to put her energy to use moving you out of Colette's office." She set her hand on her husband's shoulder. Her nails were short and unpainted if you didn't count the dozens of colors stretching up her skin.

"You being naughty?" King Ben asked Annalee, picking a bit of brown paint off of her cheek. Annalee shook her head and burrowed deeper into his shirt. Ben's heart was thumping in his chest. King Ben glanced over at his younger counterpart with a smile like he knew exactly how he was feeling. The king looked up at his wife and gestured to the young child snuggling deeper into his arms. "We made her." He reminded her. "I think we did a pretty good job."

"I think so too." Queen Mal hummed and smiled. She leaned into King Ben's side, balancing on the chair, and looked across the desk to Ben. Ben straightened up a little, pulling on his sleeves so they weren't bunching up around his armpits and hoping she didn't notice the acne spread across his forehead like trash on a beach. "How'd I get so lucky?" She mumbled, and Ben was taken aback because really, he wasn't that nice to look at yet. If his skin was real estate for zits then his chin and hairline were beach-front property, and he was lanky with big feet and he was pretty sure the cut he'd gotten in tourney over his eyebrow hadn't completely healed yet, but there wasn't much he could do.

There was a sound like a hiss behind them and they all turned to watch a door – the same door Ben had first entered through – appear in the wall. King Ben carefully pulled Annalee up onto his shoulder and stood up, and it was around this time Ben realized that Queen Mal was extremely short. "It's time for you to go." King Ben told his young protégé. "You'll be waking up soon."

"I still have so much I want to hear about." Ben mourned. "Like about Colette and Jordan and Damien? I want to hear all about them."

"You will," Mal assured him. "And believe me, your story is like nothing you've imagined so far. You're going to be blown away."

Ben stood up and King Ben wandered around his desk. "Do you want her before you go?" He asked, gesturing to Annalee. "She's light."

Ben immediately stretched forth his hands and King Ben set the small girl against his chest. She curled her fists into his shirt and leaned her head into his collar, and Ben felt his heart rate speed up. This girl didn't even exist yet to him, and already she meant the entire world. He hugged her to him, afraid to squeeze her too tightly, and then a light came from under the door he was supposed to enter. "Time to go." King Ben announced and help his arms out for his daughter. Ben returned her to him grudgingly and glanced at the door.

"Come, now." Queen Mal put a hand on his shoulder and led him towards the door. "And Ben, one thing from me before you go back if you don't mind." She smiled, and Ben straightened up a little and met her eyes. "When you first see me, I don't exactly… look like me. I'm dark and I'm angsty and I've never known love my entire life. So don't be scared to talk to me. I started to fall for you because you kept coming back around and showing you cared."

"I will – or, I won't be scared, that is," Ben assured her, and then fumbled with his hands. Was he supposed to shake her hand? Or could they hug since she was technically married to him thirty years into the future? Queen Mal solved the issue for him. She took hold of his shirt and leaned up to kiss his cheek. He felt his entire face erupt into red.

"So long." Ben waved to the King of Auradon, who raised a hand to send him off.

Queen Mal skimmed his hairline and hummed. "I'm so glad we're not teenagers anymore." She told King Ben with a chuckle. "Well, goodbye Ben. I'll see you in, what two years?"

"He doesn't know when he's meeting you yet." King Ben filled her in. She nodded with a sound of understanding, and Ben wanted to ask when he'd meet  _his_  Mal when the door opened and a white wind filled the room, making the light unbelievably bright and drowning out his vision. When fuzzy pictures started to remanifest themselves to him, he realized he was back in his room with his alarm clock blaring on the other side of the bed. He was on top of the covers, in his pajamas, and with a very bad crick in his neck. He sat up and felt his body. Nothing had changed or felt different. Had it all been a dream?

Then he looked up and noticed a card sitting on his headboard. On the front was the king's insignia. It looked exactly like the cards his dad would send out to people to let them know they had meetings coming up. He flipped it over, holding his breath, and read the back.

Crown Prince Benjamin is hereby formally invited to the King's Offices on the Evening of August the twenty-seventh at the time of two o'clock for a Life Appraisal. Please dress appropriately."

And really, you couldn't get more blatantly specific than that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mal/Evie/Jay/Carlos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you're interested in a pt 3 spinoff. I do not own Descendants

Check out Her Royal Highness.

"I'm so  _angry_  I could tear him limb from limb!" Jay spat. He was practically frothing at the mouth as he slammed his bag to the ground and jumped onto his mattress.

"I'm so  _tired_  I could sleep for the rest of my life." Evie yawned, sitting down on her bed and leaning down to unlatch her shoes. She wiggled her toes and frowned at the red calluses on the undersides of her feet that looked like little triangles from always wearing heels. "Jay, don't throw your bag so hard. You'll break it."

"I can't help it!" Jay growled. "Harry Hook is  _so_ stupid!"

"I'm so hungry I could eat an entire coil of rope." Carlos moaned, dropping face-first onto his bed. Simultaneously, everyone's stomachs growled. Carlos's face twisted in pain as he curled up a little next to his pillow. "Think we could steal one from the pirates? I'm sure there'd be some nutritional value with all the time those ropes spend in the ocean."

"If all that gunk from the water doesn't kill you, the pirates will." Jay pointed out, picking up a stick and starting to splinter off tiny pieces. "And your mom after them."

"It'd be worth it," Carlos grumbled, curling up tighter around himself.

"No, it wouldn't." Jay shot back.

"Maybe it would-" Carlos began, but Mal cut them both off.

" _I'm_ so  _sick_ of your bantering that I might have to knock you both out the hard way!" She snapped. She sank back into the squashy chair and shifted from side to side to get the lumps pushed out to the sides. Her eyes closed slowly.

"Oh, bring it on Mal. I will take you on any day of the week." Jay retorted, flinging splinters at the ceiling.

"Yeah? Well, you'll lose every day of the week." Mal scoffed.

Jay flung a splinter at the ceiling. It bounced off and thwacked against Mal's head. Her eyes snapped open and she sat straight up. A deep green light made her eyes glow. Jay shrank back, silenced, and dipped his head in apology. He brushed the rest of the splinters off his bed and onto the floor, making Evie wrinkle her nose, and pulled the covers over his shoulder. Mal exhaled and leaned back into the chair. A cool wind rushed around the room and made her shiver. She crossed her arms and squeezed her eyes tight.

"I'm so cold I might freeze to death by morning." Evie mourned.

Mal sighed. "Yeah." She agreed. "Me too."

Across the room, Jay and Carlos made matching sounds of agreement. They all fell silent, shivering into hunched positions, and then Carlos let out a very loud sigh of relief.

"What?" Jay huffed irritably."

"Oh, a warm gust just came from underneath my bed." Carlos sighed. "It's like a magical fog."

Mal opened her eyes and stood up. The cold had made her toes numb. She wandered close to Carlos's bed, inspecting it, and then gasped. A mist was arising from the floor. Jay and Evie sat up across the room and Carlos rolled over as Mal dropped to her knees and began to feel around the floorboards. A hot space on the floor in the shape of a square was causing the air to steam. Her fingers found a groove that she was sure – positive – hadn't been there before. "Help me pry this up, Jay." She demanded. Immediately, a pair of larger, callused hands with short fingers joined her on the floor. They pried up the boards and looked down into what looked like a different world. Clean carpet was beneath them, and clothes were hanging up along three walls. A door was on the third wall. All four kids stared down at the view. Mal swallowed.

"I'm… going to hop down first." She mumbled.

"What if it's some sort of trap?" Jay whispered, furrowing her brow.

"Then I'll be warm before I die." Mal shrugged. She braced her arms on either side of the square – it was about two feet wide – and swung her feet over the side. She dropped down and landed with a soft thud on the carpet down below. The warm air made her skin prickle. She let out a breath, tested the floor, and looked up. "I think it's safe," She whispered.

Carlos and Evie jumped down after her, one by one, and then Jay slowly lowered himself down. The moment he landed, there was a whoosh, and the square in the ceiling disappeared. Mal took a little breath. "Uh oh." She mumbled. Hopefully, that didn't turn into a problem.

"Look at these clothes," Evie mumbled, pulling a shirt off of a rack and holding it up to her. She wrinkled her nose. "Oh, it's purple. And there's paint on it." She picked at something on the seam. "Where can I find some blues?"

Evie put the shirt back up on the rack and flipped on the light in the closet. Everyone blinked as bright, fluorescent lights blinded them. They looked around. "Wow." Jay snorted. "Good luck Evie."

The entire closet was filled with green, purple, and black, with a few shades of white here and there. Evie's mouth dropped open incredulously. "What on earth?" She gasped. "Who would wear this much purple?"

"I dunno, it kind of sounds like my kind of deal." Mal snorted, picking out a leather jacket with metal studs.

"Uh-huh, and is  _this_  your kind of deal?" Evie asked, going to the back of the closet and pulling out a gigantic floor-length gown with spiderwebbing patterns across the bodice. Mal wrinkled her nose and turned away. Evie hummed and put the dress back. Mal squinted through more leather jackets and pulled one out.

"Tell me this doesn't look familiar." She hummed, turning and displaying the jacket to them. On the heart was her name, and on the back was Maleficent's symbol and the inscription 'Long Live Evil'.

Jay, Evie, and Carlos all stared at the artifact, and then they glanced around at the miles of fabric. Mal hung the second jacket up with pinched lips and turned her attention to the door. She stretched her hand forward to the handle. Right before she could wrap her fingers around the handle, the sound of a door slamming in the next room over made her yank her hand back. The door rattled on its hinges. Everyone's heads swiveled around as someone let out an unholy scream from the other room.

A door opened and someone began to speak. "Mademoiselle, I-"

"Get out Lumiere!" The person, a girl, who had screamed before yelled at the top of her lungs. "I'm not going to the stupid meeting! I'm done with everything! I quit my job, I'm not doing it anymore!" Something broke as it hit the wall and shattered. Mal turned around to her friends with raised eyebrows. She mouthed the word 'Wow'.

The door closed softly and there came the sound of someone sobbing from the other room. Mal carefully wrapped her fingers around the handle and opened the door. The crying stopped as she pushed the door open and examined the next room over. It was very large. To the immediate left was a large bed with blue and grey sheets and large, cushiony pillows. On the other side was another closet, but that door was propped open. Around the room, Mal could spot two desks. One was neat and clean, and the other horrendously messy with a dragon decoration on it. The far side of the room had several large floor-to-ceiling windows that peered out over a large city and an ocean in the far distance. Evie gasped, and Mal could see why. The barrier to the Isle of the Lost was visible out over the ocean. As in the place they had just come from.

Mal looked around the room for the person who'd been yelling. She couldn't see anyone for several seconds until she found the door on the far-right side of the room. A figure was leaning against the door, wiping her eyes and taking deep breaths. Mal's hands stilled at her side. The figure's hair was curled and clean and very, very purple.

"Mal?" Carlos asked, squinting at the figure. She sniffled and turned around.

"Carlos? I didn't know you were-" She stopped upon seeing them all. Mal took a few steps backward as she stared at herself. She was much older, with longer hair and makeup smudged on the corner of her eyes. And she was taller, too. "Oh," The older Mal blinked. "Are you my two o'clock meeting?"

"You have meetings?" Jay asked, confused.

Older Mal sniffled and wiped her eyes one more time. She opened the door. A white-haired man in a suit was standing outside, looking irate. "I'm sorry for yelling, Lumiere." She apologized. "I'll go now."

"His Highness already asked if you want to head down and see him before you do." Lumiere offered. "Would that make you happier?"

Older Mal nodded, still looking sullen. She turned and beckoned to the core four. "Come on now, follow me." She sighed.

Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos all fell into a little line and followed Older Mal out of the door. Lumiere's mouth dropped open when he saw them, but Older Mal waved his shock aside. "Stranger things happen." She reminded him. "We'll be with Ben."

Lumiere nodded and turned to walk in the other direction. Mal had to hand it to him – he took things well. Better than her, at least. She tapped her look-alike on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, but are you  _me?"_

 _"_ No." Older Mal sniffed. "I'm obviously older." Mal's mouth fell open.

"Was that you screaming in the other room?" Jay asked cautiously. "Cause you sounded really, really mad."

Older Mal's mouth twisted into despair. "I'm just so sick of everyone booking up  _my_  art time! Can't they understand I just want to paint!" She burst into tears and suddenly sank to the floor, leaning against the wall. Mal backed away. There was no way this was her. She'd never be set off so easily. Older Mal hiccupped and scrubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry." She apologized again. "I'm trying to get used to all these hormones and it's hard." She pressed her hands to her midsection, and for the first time, Mal noticed that there was some very defined swelling there. She backed away with her hands held aloft. Nope. Nope. Not on your life, nope. There was no way to heaven that this could possibly be her.

Older Mal hiccupped again and got up. She restarted her walk down the hall, and the rotten four exchanged glances. Should they try and follow her? Slowly, one by one, they all took up their place in line again. Older Mal wandered into a receptionist area. She sniffled a little as she walked up to a lady behind a desk. "Debra?" She asked softly.

The woman behind the desk had auburn hair and wide-rimmed glasses. She smiled at the Older Mal. "Hello, dearie." She smiled.

"Hi," Older Mal sighed. She gestured at the four kids behind her, hanging out in the doorway. "My two o'clock has arrived." She drummed her fingers on her desk. "Is he available?"

"The King?" Debra asked with a laugh. Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos exchanged wide looks as Debra examined them with a smile. "He's finishing up his 1:15 right now."

"Great." Older Mal sighed and turned around. "Come on guys, we're going to go see his royal pain in my rear."

"The king?" Mal blinked. "As in, the ruler of Auradon?" Older Mal nodded and thanked Debra quietly. She began to walk down a hallway. The core four followed behind closely. At the end of the hall was a single doorway on the left side with a plaque reading: King Benjamin on it. Mal stared at the plaque. Last she checked, the Beast's name had been Adam, not Ben. Ben was the prince. The fact that this read King Ben meant that the throne had been… passed on.

Older Mal put her hand on the handle without knocking and Evie gasped. "You can't just barge into the King's office!" She hissed, looking worriedly at the door.

Older Mal deadpanned at them. "Why not?" She asked.

"He'll get mad!" Evie whispered, twisting her hands together. Older Mal scoffed at them and twisted the handle. She pushed the door open with her foot and walked into the room. Immediately, a little shriek echoed from inside. Evie winced before they watched Mal scoop up a tiny torpedo of purple, who jumped into her arms and almost knocked her feet out from under her. They all took a cautious few steps inside.

The King's office had a large window behind a wooden desk in the center of the room. Paintings were hung around the room and books were packed into a bookcase to the immediate left of the desk. A woman with long, dark braids peered out and smiled when she saw them outside. "Wow, now there's some nostalgia!" She laughed. "Come on in, guys." She swept open the door wider. "We were just leaving. Come on, Jay."

Jay's head swiveled as a tall, caramel-skinned person appeared behind the woman, putting a hand on her shoulder. He blinked softly at them with dark, piercing eyes. "Wow." He hummed. "My hair was so bad when I was twelve." In response, Jay's lips pinched into a frown, but there was no denying that this older version of Jay has much, much better hair.

"It's bad no matter what." The woman joked, bumping him with her hip.

"You love my hair." Older Jay laughed, catching her in his grasp and kissing her forehead. "Well, have a nice meeting, you kids. See you in the mirror in a few years." They let the kids slip into the office beside them and shut the door behind them. Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Mal turned around in shock, just in time to watch Older Mal set down a child who looked about seven as an older girl, only ten though, slumped into her chair with a colossal groan.

"Meetings are so boring!" She exclaimed, dragging her toes into the floor as her purple hair draped over her shoulders like a cloud. "Why do I have to do them?"

"You and me both, Co-co." Mal hummed. She bent down, peppering the little boy's face with kisses as he giggled and hugged her legs. Behind the desk was a tall man with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes, who watched Mal kiss her son with a bright smile. Because really, that's what this was, right? Her son? With her bright purple hair and green eyes who was holding onto her for dear life? Mal felt like she might faint, especially as the man behind the desk with the same dark eye's as Older Mal's daughter focused on her and let a smirk pull at the corners of his mouth.

"Alright, baby, let me through." Older Mal hummed. Her son let go of her legs and sat against his father's desk as Older Mal walked around the desk.

"Heard you had a meltdown." The king hummed, sitting up as she walked towards him. Older Mal let out a disparaged sound. Ben stood up and tugged her into his arms. She laid her head on his chest as he rubbed her back comfortingly.

Mal exchanged bewildered looks with her friends. That was the King of Auradon. And the children in this room had his skin and her hair. And she was hugging him. "So… what's going on here?" She interjected.

King Ben hummed. "I'm hugging my wife." He told them. Mal deflated. Older Mal wasn't just a bizarre interpretation of what she could be if she'd grown up in Auradon, she was Queen Mal. Mal sat down hard in one of the chairs alongside the palace. The ten-year-old, Co-co, sat up and poked Mal's arm. "You look like me." She yawned.

"That's your mom, Colette." King Ben hummed, rubbing Queen Mal's arms. "You okay?" He whispered. She shrugged and sighed before turning around to the bewildered kids.

"Colette, Jordan, I need you to go play for a little while." Queen Mal requested, rubbing a hand over her face. "Daddy and I have a meeting with Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Mal."

Despite the bizarre situation, both kids nodded and went to the door. Colette stopped to steal a hug from her mom before disappearing out the door behind Jordan. Queen Mal waved to them as they left the room. "Colette Hope and Jordan Truth." She yawned. "Yes, I know their names are cheesy. Ben liked them and I was high on painkillers." She elbowed her husband as he offered her his chair with a roll of his eyes.

"You married the king." Mal hummed flatly. "Yeah, that sounds realistic. What sort of elaborate prank is this?"

"You're clearly not taking me seriously, so I'm just going to start talking." Older Mal grumbled. King Ben sat down in the seat his daughter had vacated with an eyeroll as Queen Mal twiddled her thumbs together and began to explain. "When I was sixteen, Then-Prince Benjamin was just about to ascend the throne when he issued his first proclamation, which stated the children on the Isle of the Lost should be given a chance to chose good and live in Auradon. He invited me and my friends over, and our parents sent us, hoping we'd be able to steal the wand from Fairy Godmother to free them on the Isle of the Lost. Once here, we learned that Ben's girlfriend would be allowed to stand at the front during his coronation when the wand would be used to swear him in as king. One love spell later, I was dating the king."

"Let me guess." Jay snorted. "She saw how great Love was and how happy everyone in Auradon was and decided to stay?"

"Basically." Queen Mal nodded. The core four stared at her incredulously. She shrugged. "Carlos decided he liked not being hit and mauled by his mother and also learned that he liked dogs, so he stayed. And Jay learned he was more of a team player who liked sports and not starving to death and stealing the same things over and over again, so he stayed. Evie had a prince let her down hard and picked up on chemistry as a consequence. She became a fashion diva on campus and a science star and decided she didn't want to go either. And I fell in love with the king. We all stayed in Auradon and helped bring kids over from the Isle."

"I was let down by a prince?" Evie asked, lip coming out in a pout.

"Oh, hard." Queen Mal nodded. She fiddled with something under King Ben's desk and then pulled a soda pop out from underneath it with a smirk to Ben, who rolled his eyes. She popped it open and took a sip. "You guys can sit down." She told the three standing VK's. "He told you that if you knocked out his homework with yours, he'd have time to spend with you. And then when Ben dumped his girlfriend for me, he turned around and picked that girl up. And then, he reported you for cheating with your mother's magic mirror. Your future husband saved your tail, and you started buckling down to study chemistry. And hey, what do you know, you got a different sort of chemistry with him after that. He helped you start up your fashion business, you got married out of Auradon Prep, and you have three kids right now and you say you're done."

"How many rooms are in his palace?" Evie asked, taking a seat near the desk and clasping her hands together.

"You mean your palace?" Queen Mal raised an eyebrow. "You bought your own palace with the money you earned from your dress business. And Doug, who is your husband, isn't a prince. He's the son of Dopey, one of the Dwarves from Snow White's Tale."

Evie stared at Queen Mal in incredulous horror. Queen Mal took a sip of her drink and didn't retract her statements as she pulled out her phone and started flipping through it. After a long pause, she held the screen out. "I have an album of you guys. Here. Swipe right."

Evie stood up and went to take the phone from Queen Mal with shaking hands. Carlos craned his head over her shoulder, staring in shock. Mal's fingers itched as Evie examined what she assumed was her future husband and children. Then she hissed out: "I look so good," And Mal had to hold back a snort.

"Carlos!" Queen Mal snapped to attention suddenly, making Carlos jump in his seat. "Ben introduces you to Dude, who is a dog. You end up falling in love with dogs and you and Jane adopt three after you get married. You have one child but really, all the dogs are treated just as well as your kid, so whatever. You're a computer technician who's also done lots of work on developing prosthetics for animals and for people." She drummed her fingers on Ben's desk. "I'll show you pictures after Evie finishes examining herself."

"Oh! Sorry!" Evie exclaimed, standing up and passing the phone back to Queen Mal. She redirected the pictures and extended the phone to Carlos before pressing her fingertips to her forehead.

"You okay?" Ben asked, sitting up.

"Headache." Queen Mal sighed. "Jay, you play this sport… it's called tourney. You do it professionally… I think you have one of the longest careers in the game. And you married Lonnie, who you saw walk out, and you two have twin girls at home right now. They're five, and they're both cute, but trouble. She's technically a hero's daughter, but since she's not royalty you get to avoid the courts, which is sad for me because now I'm alone."

Carlos, it seemed, had figured out to navigate Mal's phone. He turned around to show Jay the pictures of what he had found, and a look of amazement spread across his face. Queen Mal turned to the younger Mal, who was sitting rigid and pressing her lips into a firm line. "You're queen. You're married. Your mom is a lizard and a resident of the Auradon Reptilian institute after you shrunk her down to keep her from taking over Auradon. You have an art studio and two beautiful kids. What more do you want to know?"

"How do I know you're not lying?" Mal demanded, examining her older self with a scrutinizing gaze. "And how'd we get here from the Isle? And how do we go back? Who are you really?"

Queen Mal stared at Mal like she couldn't believe a child could be so stupid. "You literally saw the square entrance from the Isle vanish in front of your eyes, you can see the barrier behind you, and I don't care how much dirt is on your face, we're so clearly the same person it's ridiculous. What more proof do you want?"

"How did we get here?" Mal deadpanned, squinting suspiciously at Queen Mal.

"No idea." Queen Mal shrugged. "I just know you're my two o'clock meeting, just like I was the older, well,  _my_  older Queen Mal's meeting." She frowned and mumbled under her breath: "Wow, I'm old now."

"And did you believe her then?" Mal asked.

Queen Mal shook her head and rolled her eyes. "No, but I can just tell you good luck trying to deny everything for the next five years. You really might as well go announce to the Isle you're going to be queen one day for all you can do to stop this from happening." She locked eyes with her husband across the room and they shared a mutual eye-roll. Mal bristled indignantly.

"I think you're lying, and I think this is a prank!" She snapped. "Who set you up to this, the pirates? There's no way that's actually the Isle out there! You must be pulling some sort of… hypnosis trick! That's it, you've teamed up with Facilier, or with Kaa the snake! None of this is real!"

King Ben let out a disbelieving groan and slumped down into his chair beside her. Queen Mal pinched the bridge between her eyes. "Did you take it like this?" She asked King Ben.

King Ben shook his head. "No, I just accepted everything and was a bit too starry-eyed about you."

"So you didn't even react. Okay." Queen Mal rolled her eyes. Ben snorted and shook his head, hiding his face in his hands as he continued rolling his eyes over Mal's reaction. Queen Mal leaned towards Mal. "Listen, sweetheart, this is how it'll work. You're gonna spend the next four years of your life snapping at all your friends about how this never happened until the day it happens, and then you'll be spinning your tires, knowing you recognize him, knowing that everything is playing out just like I said it would, and you're gonna have to accept that one day you'll be me, and that's the beginning and end of this." She closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair, picking up her soda and taking a long drink.

"I won't let it happen," Mal replied vehemently. "You might have been weak enough to slip and fall, but when I get  _my_  chance to rule and terrorize Auradon,  _I_ won't let  _my_  mother down."

"You tell yourself that sweetheart." Queen Mal replied with an eye-roll. She propped her feet up on the desk and then opened one eye to watch King Ben's dismayed expression. "And, technically, you  _do_  get to rule and terrorize Auradon. I mean, believe me, everyone freaked out and panicked when Ben asked me to marry him."

"You posted a picture that read 'Well, I guess I'm fulfilling my mom's dream after all. #fivestepsfromthekingdom."' King Ben retorted. He stood up and walked to the desk. He stood behind the chair and put his hands on her shoulders before kissing the side of her head.

"It's always fun to poke at your kingdom." Queen Mal hummed, leaning back as he ran his fingers through her trademark purple hair.

"Do you like being a queen?" Evie asked, looking up from Queen Mal's cellphone. Queen Mal wrinkled her nose.

King Ben laughed. "She doesn't like it at the moment. Sometimes it's okay, but not when she's pregnant and has to sit through meetings about ocean pollution."

"Is that today?" Queen Mal whirled around, staring at King Ben in horror. He nodded with a sympathetic look. Mal let out a groan, slumping into his chair and swigging her soda. "I'm canceling." She declared. "And I'm going to sit in the bathtub and paint with my watercolors."

"You've canceled twice." Ben shook his head. "And for actual reasons. You can't cancel a third time just because you don't want to go."

"With bubble bath. And five pounds of Epson Salts. And loud Isle music." Queen Mal continued, ignoring him shaking his head. "And strawberries. Lots and lots of strawberries. And maybe pickles, peppers, and spicy Doritos."

"After your meeting." King Ben prompted. Queen Mal let out a tortured groan. "It's only six more years." He reminded her. "And then you can focus your time on painting and wasting the country's Epson Salt reserves."

"We ought to just take up investment by purchasing the hot springs near the North Mountains." Queen Mal mumbled, pouting as she nursed her soda.

"In the grand scheme of things, it might save us more money than if we buy individual bags of salt." King Ben shrugged.

"Mal, I need you to know about strawberries." Queen Mal changed the subject, nodding to the young girl sitting alone on the left side of the room. "They are the fruit of the gods."

"That's persimmon." King Ben sighed, still running his fingers through her scalp.

"The fruit of the angels, then." Queen Mal rolled her eyes. "They're red, with small seeds in the sides, and they're absolutely heavenly. I could literally live on strawberries."

"You literally tried that when you were nineteen and we literally almost took you to the hospital." King Ben deadpanned, leaning forward to raise an eyebrow at her. He was mocking her use of the word 'literally'.

"I could  _literally die_ on strawberries." Mal rolled her eyes and wrinkled her nose at her husband. "You're going to love them. They're amazing. But, as a forewarning, when Ben asks if you want to try escargot, say no. It's a trap."

"Isn't that snail?" Evie asked, crossing her legs as she gazed in wonder at the portraits around the room. Two were of a very regal-looking Ben and Mal with crowns placed atop their heads.

King Ben and Queen Mal both nodded, the latter with green tones in her cheeks. She bent down and raffled underneath Ben's desk for a moment, and then produced a box of saltine crackers from underneath. Ben sighed. "Why are you raiding my stash? All your favorites are under your desk."

"But my desk is that way, in a different room." Queen Mal sighed, pointing to the left side of his office. "And I'm hungry now." She opened the box and withdrew a stack of crackers before offering him a few. Carlos's stomach growled. Ben took the crackers from her and passed them to Carlos before Queen Mal withdrew a second stack. Mal squinted suspiciously as Carlos opened the package.

"So, this is supposed to be a different time, right?" She asked as Carlos offered the package to both Evie and Carlos before standing and walking to her.

"It's the year 41." Queen Mal replied. "I'm thirty-seven, almost thirty-eight. I'm twenty-six years older than you."

"Is Mom still alive?" Mal asked.

"She's a lizard. I mentioned that, right? We're not really sure if she's… coherent or aging." Queen Mal shrugged. She turned the chair and put her hand into Ben's pocket, withdrawing his phone. "You're almost out of time. Want to take these with you?" She reached under the desk and pulled out a box of granola bars and a box of fruit snacks. Ben rolled his eyes and Queen Mal squinted at him. "You can steal mine." She told him. "But I'm not leaving this chair right now to go get them."

"And this all happened to you?" Mal spat. "The square and the closet of purple and marching into the King's office? You did all of this?"

Queen Mal nodded in affirmation lazily. Mal crossed her arms. "Well, I don't know what happened to you, but I'm not going to end up like you. I don't know why you'd want all this anyways."

"The food?" Queen Mal drawled sarcastically. Mal was momentarily taken aback by how similar they sounded. This prissy purple royal certainly  _sounded_  like she'd once come from the Isle. "The central heating and air conditioning? The art studio and your sweet husband and your two children?"

"The meetings and the gowns and the responsibilities?" Mal challenged. "The lack of time and space? Throwing away your mom and your roots?"

"Getting out from under mom's thumb, making all your friends happy, meeting dozens of new people?" Queen Mal rose to her feet arching her eyebrow at Mal. "And not to repeat myself or anything, but you get a best friend who knows everything about you, who you get to raise two beautiful kids with?"

"Because you're so happy to be pregnant." Mal crossed her arms. "And bloated and emotional. Nope. Not for me. Sorry, Princey, you'll have to find a new bride. Maybe Evie would enjoy the task." She gestured to her blue-haired friend, who perked up at the idea of marrying a prince.

"I like that idea." Evie hummed, and then looked back towards Queen Mal's phone in Jay's hands. "But… I also like those kids. They look just like me!"

"Check out this uniform, Mal," Jay called, flipping the screen around.

Mal held up a cross hand. "I don't want to see, Jay." Jay lowered the screen, looking a little off-put.

Ben frowned at her. "I'd forgotten how angsty you were." He commented. Queen Mal shook her head like she was embarrassed.

"Well, you'd better get used to it, King Useless. Let me ask: have you actually done anything to fix the Isle? Or is everyone still starving to death underneath that barrier?" Mal stormed over and threw her hands down on the desk. "What kind of heroes let children starve?"

King Ben poked Queen Mal's arm. "That's your first meeting tomorrow." He reminded her. She nodded sadly, and Ben turned back to Mal. "She – you – and Evie, Jay, and Carlos form the approval committee to bring new kids to Auradon and make changes to the Isle. And then I approve changes. So far we have Medicare and instacare, preparation for juvenile internment in Auradon, education, the works. If we took you to the Isle now, you wouldn't even recognize it."

A whooshing sound echoed behind them, and a hole opened up in the floor of the office behind Mal. She turned and stared at it. Evie, Jay, and Carlos stood up. "Is that… us?" Carlos asked, peering through the hole. Mal looked through. She could see Jay, Evie, and Carlos on their beds, and her in her chair, exactly as they'd been before Carlos had alerted them to the heat. Carlos's shoulders slumped. "That means we have to go back." He sighed. "Can't we stay here with you?"

"Are you crazy?" Mal barked. "Um, Carlos? Long live Evil!"

"You married the king of Auradon and shrunk your mom into a lizard." Jay pointed out. "That's almost literally the opposite of Evil."

"I will not marry him!" Mal declared, face turning red. "How dare you – how dare all of you! I'm the daughter of the evilest of them all and I'm going to be just like her! Just you watch!"

King Ben pinched the bridge between his nose, Queen Mal covered her face, and Evie, Jay, and Carlos exchanged doubtful looks. Mal balled her fists up and dared them to challenge her. King Ben cleared his throat. "As much as we'd like to have you, Carlos, we can't. For one, we have no way to keep you here. For two, you have to go so you can come back in a different time. And I promise, Carlos, I don't forget you guys."

"But what if our Ben does something different?" Jay frowned.

"He won't. He gets the same talk you guys do, without the two angsty dragons in the room." Ben assured them, smirking sideways at Queen Mal, who pouted, wrapping her hands around herself.

"Oh, well, goodbye, I guess," Carlos mumbled, glancing down into the hole worriedly.

"It's not goodbye forever," Ben assured him. "You'll see me in four years, so it's more like a 'see you later'."

"Well, see you later, then." Carlos agreed, holding out a hand for Ben to shake. Ben pulled Carlos under his arm. The two exchanged a hug and then Carlos tried to return the box of crackers to the king.

"Keep it." Ben shook his head. "I know you don't get much on the Isle yet." Carlos nodded, peered down into the hole, and jumped in. He vanished. Evie and Jay gasped, but Ben waved away their concerns. "He just went back to his body. Now, who's next?"

Evie twisted her hands and stepped forward for a hug. Ben happily obliged her. She kept her arms around his chest as long as she could and kissed him on the cheek before she turned back to the hole wearily. She jumped in and vanished.

Jay and Ben kept it simple with a fist-bump and a bro hug, and then he abruptly stepped forward and hugged Queen Mal tightly. She patted his shoulder with a smile. "It's not for a few more years, Jay. You'll be ready when the time comes."

Jay nodded, turned, and disappeared through the hole. Mal crossed her arms and glared at her counterpart and the king as they wrapped an arm each around the other.

"For the record, I don't believe a word either of you said." Mal snapped. "I know this is all just some crazy prank or scheme that Uma or Harry cooked up to try and make me weak. I know I'll never betray my mom."

Queen Mal sighed and nodded like she'd heard this a million times before. King Ben rolled his eyes. "Well, go on then." He sighed. "Go prove us wrong and let me know in…" he paused, counting in his head. "Twenty-six years how that went for you."

"It goes well." Queen Mal sniffed. "Obviously." She kissed King Ben on the cheek. Mal gagged, and King Ben snorted.

"Watching you act like that is almost like watching Colette when she's in one of her moods." He whispered.

"Except Colette is fifty times more sass and twenty percent less angst." Queen Mal sighed. Mal stamped her foot and turned on her heel, but Queen Mal put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her from leaving. "Something I want to tell you before you go." She hummed and turned the girl back around.

Queen Mal twisted her wedding ring on her finger and Mal pinched her lips as she waited for the Queen to remember the exact wording. "I know you won't start listening to this advice until you're nineteen and you figure it's too late to change anything, so just keep this in the back of your mind until then. Ben likes it when you spread your hand on his shoulder, he likes your head on his ribcage, and if you kiss his ear, you'll send him through the roof. Also, the first… five times he asks to kiss you and the first thirty times he tries, don't let him. You'll know the time is right because the stakes will be set. Got that?"

"I'm not kissing anyone." Mal scoffed. "No one is wooing me, I'm not bowing to any crown, and no one is going to get me pregnant. So, watch out, because I'm not falling for your tricks." She turned away pointedly. She heard the King and Queen both scoff before she jumped into the hole. White filled her vision, along with a loud whoosh, and she opened her eyes to light filling the hideaway as if she'd just woken up. She was stiff from the cold. Her stomach was twisting painfully, but she wasn't tired. She'd slept. It had been a dream.

A clamor arose from the side of the room. Mal sat up. Carlos was on the floor, clamoring at the boards and feeling for something. Evie and Jay sat up, looking dazed, and glanced around. Mal frowned at Carlos. "What are you doing?" She demanded.

Carlos's head snapped up and he shrunk back under the combined gazes of all his friends. "I- I was just…" he trailed off, dragging his fingertips on the floor in a vain attempt to find a groove.

"Just what?" Mal demanded. No one met her gaze and she realized – with shock – that they must have been dreaming together. He was searching for the door.

Carlos shook his head and got up slowly. "Nothing." He assured her, still not meeting her eyes. She knew he was imagining her older self, pregnant and with Ben dragging his fingers through her hair. She set her jaw. "It must have just been a dream." He mumbled.

Silence reigned in the room. Then Jay sat up and said: "No, it wasn't." He leaned to the end of his bed and picked up a box – the box of saltine crackers from under Ben's desk. Evie covered her mouth as Carlos stood, hand shaking as he reached carefully for the box. They tipped the contents out on Jay's bed, staring in shock at the pale crackers and the brightly colored box. Evie took one and bit it, testing to see if it was real – it was.

"Look!" She gasped, picking up a white card that had been left beside the box. Mal snatched it out of her hands. She was so angry that the white card looked pink. Her hand shook as she glared at the words on the card:

"Mal Bertha Fairy, Carlos De Vil, Evie Lynn Grimhilde, and Jay Marriott of the Isle of the Lost are hereby formally invited to meet with the Queen of Auradon on the Evening of May the sixteenth at the time of two o'clock for a Life Appraisal. Proper dress is not required."

Mal threw the card to the ground. "Rubbish!" She hissed. "That is all absolutely rubbish!"

Her friends stared at her. Carlos awkwardly cleared his throat. "Uh, Mal? I think a blood vessel burst in your eye."

Mal ran a hand underneath her lashes and, to her surprise, her red vision cleared. She cursed, loudly, and her friends all jumped as she flicked blood onto the flooring and pointed at them all, leaning in closely. "This is all bull crap." She said, slowly. "Auradon is lying to us, somehow. There's no way they'll ever consider us more than their untouchables and I, for one, am not going to waste my time thinking that this stupid prank is ever going to amount to anything. You really think the crown prince, who's been raised his entire life drowning in jewels and comfort, is going to care about us? You lot can think what you want about whatever… twisted vision or elaborate prank we just experienced, but don't say anything about it to me. I'm not going to let them distract me or get in my head."

She turned around and began looking for a towel or something to wipe the blood out of her eye on. Evie, Jay, and Carlos all exchanged glances. It was bizarre, for sure, but it had struck up an intense feeling of power like they hadn't felt in a long, long time. And on top of that, Mal was acting exactly as her counterpart had predicted, meaning she was likely a long ways away from the threat of being nothing like Queen Mal was. The three folded their arms and quietly picked crackers off the pile as Mal ignored them all and cleaned out her eye. Not say anything, fine. But give up on hope?

Never.


End file.
